Channing Frye was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a trade deadline deal that saw him and Isaiah Thomas shipped away from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the west coast. While Frye has not seen much of the court in his time with the team due in part to an emergecny appendectomy, he’s still a valuable member of the locker room as a veteran presence. Case in point is a Lakers team with a trio of young stars on board often seen having some fun with Frye.
But it’s Frye’s relationship with a former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate that could possibly pay dividends for the Lakers free agency plans. LeBron James has been connected to the Lakers for quite a while now and Frye acknowledges that he could be used to help bring LeBron to LA. That is as long as he’s winning alongside The King.
Following comes from Bill Oram of the OC Register.
In two months since being traded from Cleveland, Frye has found all of those qualities in the Lakers, with a popular coach and an exciting young core of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of guys this summer who want to play with Lonzo and Kuz and Brandon and guys that they have here and just build from that,” Frye said. “This is a pretty appealing place. It doesn’t hurt that it’s the Lakers and that these young guys are some of the best young guys in the NBA.”
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With just 12 games remaining in the regular season, Frye said he wants to see where he “could fit in for the future.” If it’s with the Lakers, he also can envision himself serving as a bit of a matchmaker.
“I think a lot of vets are going to ask me how it is,” Frye said. “They’re going to ask I.T. (Isaiah Thomas) how it is.”
And yes, if his former teammate James is the target, Frye will happily make a phone call.
“I’ll make a call to Jesus if I have to,” Frye said, “if that’s going to help get a win.”
